Development of Computer Modelling Techniques for Microwave Thermography

Brown, Valerie Jane (1989) Development of Computer Modelling Techniques for Microwave Thermography. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

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Abstract

Microwave thermography obtains information about the temperature of internal body tissues by a spectral measurement of the intensity of the natural thermally generated radiation emitted by the body tissues. At the lower microwave frequencies radiation can penetrate through tissue for distances useful for a range of medical applications. Radiation from inside the body may be detected and measured non-invasively at the skin surface by a microwave thermography system consisting of a suitable antenna to detect the radiation and a radiometer receiver to measure its intensity. In the microwave region the radiative power emitted per unit bandwidth is proportional to the temperature of the emitting tissue and the total radiative power received from the body tissues, P, is a weighted volume average of temperature P = kB ∫w(r) T(r) dV where k is Boltzmann's constant, B is the bandwidth, T(r) is the temperature at the position r and w(r) is the weighting function. The weighting function depends on the structure and dielectric properties of the tissues being viewed, the measurement frequency and the characteristics of the antenna. The Glasgow developed microwave thermography system operates at a central frequency of 3.2 GHz, chosen to give the optimum compromise between the depth from which radiation may be received, which decreases with increasing frequency, and the lateral spatial resolution which increases with increasing frequency. A Dicke configuration radiometer receiver and a cylindrical low-impedance waveguide antenna, which operates in contact with the skin surface, are used. The output from the radiometer is calibrated to degrees Celsius to give a "microwave temperature" of the tissues being viewed. The tissue temperature distribution, T(r), reflects the vascular and metabolic state of the tissue. Diseases which affect these physiological functions will result in changes in the tissue temperature and hence in the measured microwave temperature. It is not possible, however, to solve the indirect problem of retrieval of the temperature distribution in the tissue from a single frequency measurement of microwave temperature. It is therefore necessary to model the temperature distribution in the tissue and, from this, solve the direct problem of calculation of the microwave temperature. Measured microwave temperatures may then be compared with those modelled to indicate the physiological state of the tissue. Pennes (1948) The temperature distribution in the tissue may be determined by solution of the steady-state heat transfer equation KV2T +Wbcb(Ta -T) + Q = 0 where K is the thermal conductivity of the tissue, Wb is the perfusion rate of blood through the tissue, cb is the specific heat capacity of the blood, Ta is the arterial blood temperature and Q is the rate of metabolic heat generation in the tissue. The boundary condition of heat loss at the skin surface is governed by the equation K dT/dn= h(T-Te ) where Te is the ambient temperature and h is the heat transfer coefficient due to the combined effects of heat loss by radiation, convection and evaporation. The microwave temperature may be calculated from the modelled temperature distribution and use of plane wave theory to determine the weighting function, with an increased power attenuation constant to account for the response of the antenna. The modelling of the tissue is simplified by the fact that both the tissue thermal conductivity and the microwave dielectric properties of the tissue depend primarily on the water content of the tissue. This thermal and electromagnetic modelling has been carried out to determine the expected microwave temperature profiles across the female breast. Microwave and infra-red temperature measurements were made on a group of young, normal women and a group of older, post-menopausal women with breast disease. In general the younger women will have higher water content breast tissue than that of the older women due to the higher proportion of glandular and connective tissue and the smaller proportion of low water content fat tissue.

Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
Qualification Level: Doctoral
Keywords: Biophysics, Thermodynamics
Date of Award: 1989
Depositing User: Enlighten Team
Unique ID: glathesis:1989-77817
Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
Date Deposited: 14 Jan 2020 11:53
Last Modified: 14 Jan 2020 11:53
URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/77817

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